VFX shot advice

[rjs123]

Hi there,
I am working on planning an idea for my first short, and one of the shots needed involves money falling out of a photograph. Initially, I intended to cut a hole in the photo, drop the money through from above and then mask out the hand and the money coming from above in post pro. The problem I have with this in practice is filling in the hole in the paper/ replacing the photo in post pro, which admittedly I haven't got a clue how to do. Has anyone got an alternative suggestion for doing this?

 

[Danielassault]

1) You need to make sure the frame of the photo is contrast enough to the area surrounding it. This is so you could properly track it in post. There are plenty of programs that could properly track this.

2) I am guessing this photo isn't moving? Only the camera? In that case, take a high quality stills-photograph of the painting from its front. Do this while your set is already lit for the shot.

3) When you import the still image into your composting program, turn it into a 3D object\layer. Position it where it should naturally be and parent it to the tracked information.

P.S
You will want to shoot this in at least 60FPS (Or 50FPS if you are filming in PAL). Falling money doesn't look well when shot in less FPS.

Good Luck

 

[rjs123]

Sorry, I should have clarified. The photograph (which will be blank) is going to be held by hand, but the camera is stationary. As the actor turns the photo over, the money falls out. Thank you for the reply anyway - i'll make sure to shoot in high fps.

 

[Danielassault]

The technique is the same, however, the tracking becomes more complicated. Especially because a human hand isn't stable. This might involve some frame-by-frame tweaking if the track isn't perfect.

You can still use a photograph and turn it into a 3D object, just make sure to add lights in your composting program and add some specularity to it.

Are you using After Effects? If so, you can do this within after effect. If the photo is bending, use Mesh Warp on the photo to adjust it.

 

[rjs123]

Thanks! I will be using after effects, but to be honest I haven't used it in a while so I'm a bit rusty (I'm more familiar with 3d packages). Anyway, I will work on compositing another practice shot to get it totally right before I go any further with this project.

 

[_Rok_]

Free Help

Words, words, words ...

The best way to get advice on this (Read: any) VFX shot is to draw a storyboard(s) showing exactly how you want the final effect to work, and from what angle. If you can't draw, then snap a couple digital photos and scribble over that in photoshop.

I've done some VFX in the past (click). If you toss me an email with some boards/images, I'd be happy to reply with a detailed shooting plan & diagrams.

Thomas
beefcramp@gmail.com

 

[rjs123]

To be honest I think I've got this one sorted now. I had another go today, and my technique seemed to work pretty well. Instead of having a hole in the photo, I just filmed the photo and the money falling separately, leaving the camera in the same position. I then simply combined the two shots. I may take you up on your offer though, Rok, albeit for a slightly different (and more complex) VFX which will probably include some tracking as Danielassault suggested. I just need to get the specifics of what I want ready first.